Allpoint Blog

No matter how often we actually use cash, most of us at some point have needed cash quickly. And it’s likely that when we have needed to make a quick withdrawal, it’s often been from a non-branch or off-premise ATM versus one at our bank or credit union branch. Why is this? Because it was the closest ATM!

Just how important is it to consumers that they have convenient access to a non-branch or offsite ATM?

In a proprietary 2015 Cardtronics survey of 1,000 consumers, 51 percent of respondents said it was important or very important to have a non-branch ATM available nearby. The survey also asked if consumers perceived that those non-branch ATMs were in fact convenient.

It was no surprise that 66 percent of survey respondents found non-branch ATMs to be convenient. Two-thirds of people also said there was a non-branch ATM within 3 miles of their home, while another two-thirds said there was a non-branch ATM within 3 miles of their workplace. With ATMs, the perception of convenience is key, and non-branch ATMs deliver real value for consumers.

Convenience Is Key

Convenience can be a very powerful tool for a financial institution seeking to acquire new accounts and “remains among the top differentiators in choosing a bank,” according to a report on the 2016 Novantas Omni-Channel Shopper Survey. The report goes on to explain that “convenience is rapidly being redefined – less around the nearest physical branch and more around strong digital capabilities, general branch proximity, free ATMs, and other factors.”

This movement away from the importance of proximity “opens up a number of other levers for banks to define themselves as convenient,” the Novantas report said. One of those levers is ATM networks that allow cardholders to obtain cash wherever they are – and better yet – with no fee.

And the good news for banks targeting the largest demographic groups, tech-savvy Millennials: “Young adults and mobile banking users who use ATMs are more likely than average to use a wider variety of ATM locations, including their bank’s ATMs in store locations (32 percent) and in other non-branch locations (25 percent).”